That afternoon, after Bai Longfei, Lin Yingxue and I went out for a meal, we returned to the special case team dormitory, ready to rest early and set off in the early morning.
Originally I didn't plan to come back, but Bai Longfei said that if I moved out like this, something might happen tonight, so I returned to my dormitory, but I didn't communicate with Bai Qi for the whole day.
Bai Qi left in the afternoon, saying that he was going home to enjoy his vacation and would not come to the special case team for a while. From the time he came to Bai Longfei to give instructions to the time he left, he did not look at me once from beginning to end. But I could feel that although he did not look at me, his attention was all on me because he had sensed my questioning gaze.
Since I didn't know how many days we would be gone this time, I simply didn't prepare any change of clothes. After all, we were not going to have fun this time. Bai Longfei had already rented an SUV from a car rental company. Everything was ready. At about two o'clock in the morning, Bai Longfei called me to wake me up. We packed everything and Bai Longfei drove to our destination.
Bai Longfei told me before that he was worried that the man wearing the evil ghost mask didn't know we were leaving. I was not worried about this. I had already given the reason. He should be watching me 24 hours a day. He knew my every move very well. Even if I was really preparing to run away at this time, he would know it at the first time and follow me.
Although I am not worried that he does not know the news, I am worried that he knows that I have left the special case team, but will not follow me. Because I have a vague feeling that this person is not an ordinary person, and he probably knows all my little tricks, so now we are basically gambling, betting that this person wearing a devil mask is skilled and daring, and dares to follow me even though he knows it is a trap.
After getting in the car, I fell asleep sitting in the back seat. I don’t know how long I slept, but I was suddenly awakened by the violent shaking of the car. When I woke up, it was already a little light in the sky, but it was very dark around. Without the bright lights of the city, the air was especially quiet and peaceful.
"Awake? We're almost there. It's estimated to take another 30 minutes. This stretch of road is difficult to walk on. I don't know if the cars ahead can pass. If the road ahead is too difficult to walk on, we may have to walk."
"It doesn't matter. No matter how difficult this road is, it won't be more difficult than the Black Mountain Village back then, right? But Brother Long, the terrain here seems to be very high." I rubbed my eyes, opened the window to get some fresh air and said.
"Of course. This is basically a mountain road. We are heading up the mountain now. Are you having altitude sickness? How high is this? But then again, what was that final test you mentioned before? What were you doing when you were out for half an hour?"
Facing Bai Longfei's question, I suddenly felt a little embarrassed. I touched my hair and said, "I'd better not tell you this for now. After all, this is also an uncertain event. If I tell you, what if it doesn't come true by then, wouldn't I be so embarrassed?"
Bai Longfei sighed and said, "Okay, then I won't ask. No matter what, you must be careful this time. The other party's target is you. Although I can follow you all the time, there is no guarantee that you won't be left alone. I give you this thing, I believe it will be useful."
As Bai Longfei spoke, he picked up something from the seat next to him and threw it to me. I immediately caught it and took a closer look, only to find that what Bai Longfei gave me was a real pistol.
Since I came to the special case team, I have never carried a gun. One reason is that I have no experience with guns and Bai Qi has no intention of equipping me with one. Another reason is that I really don’t know how to use it. I have been shot before, so I am more or less afraid of this thing.
Looking back, I once dreamed of owning a real pistol like other men. But now, looking at the pistol in my hand, I have completely lost interest in it. After all, this thing has brought me too many shadows.
"Forget it. I don't know how to use it. What if I miss and hit you? Give it to Xiaoxue. It will be much more useful to her than to me."
Lin Yingxue seemed to have not slept at all. When I woke up, she was still sitting next to me looking out the window. I handed her the gun in my hand, and she did not refuse. After putting the gun on her body, she took out the familiar dagger and handed it to me as if by magic.
This dagger still gave me a sense of security. I put the dagger on my body and asked, "Brother Long, has anyone followed us along the way?"
Bai Longfei's face suddenly became serious, and he nodded and said, "Yes, there has been a car following us since we left the imperial city. Although he followed us very secretly and kept a safe distance from us at all times, I still found him. I guess it was the man wearing the evil ghost mask."
"Then why don't you stop the car and catch him?" I said with my eyes wide open.
"How can we catch him? He was very far away from the car. Even if we stopped the car and turned around to chase him, we might not be able to catch him. But just ten minutes ago, the car suddenly stopped following us. I don't know what he meant."
Since he has followed us here, I finally put down the last stone in my heart and said, "I think he must have felt that there is no need to continue following us, because he has already determined our destination from the direction we are traveling. If he continues to follow us, something will definitely happen. Don't worry about him. He has followed us so far. When we reach the village, he will definitely show up by himself!"
As we drove towards the village, the sky gradually brightened. I looked at the time. It was a little after six in the morning. We estimated that we would arrive at around half past six. Since we didn't know whether we could get breakfast in the village on time, we brought a lot of food with us. We ate while driving, and soon we arrived at the village.
Bai Longfei and I have forgotten the name of this village. The village looks very small, with only about thirty or forty households. It is surrounded by fields, which are the source of livelihood for the villagers. But the strange thing is that when we drove into the village, we didn’t find any people in the village. In such a big village, there were only a few scattered people walking around, and they kept staring at us when they saw us.
"Isn't that strange? It's spring now, so they should all be out farming at this time, right?" I looked around and said in confusion.
Bai Longfei rolled his eyes at me and said, "You've read too many elementary school textbooks, haven't you? How can things be so absolute? Who told you that the villagers have to go out to farm before dawn every day? Let's stop the car here and go out to see if we can find a place to live."
Bai Longfei was about to stop the car, but I immediately stopped him and said, "Don't worry, park the car at the entrance to the village, with the car facing the entrance, and turn on the dashcam. This way, if the man wearing the evil ghost mask comes, we will be able to capture his appearance."
Bai Longfei chuckled, immediately turned the car around and parked it as I said. Then we got out of the car and prepared to communicate with the villagers here. When we came here just now, we only saw a few people on the road in the village. Now after we got off the car, the number of people had suddenly increased to nearly twenty people. Everyone was dressed simply and looked at us with strange eyes.
"Hello, everyone. We are from the capital and plan to spend a few days here. I wonder if you could help us with our food and lodging. Don't worry, we won't eat or stay for free. We will pay for it."
I guess they were people who often come here to travel. After hearing about our origins, the group of villagers became a little excited. Several people immediately rushed out and volunteered to brag about how big their houses were and how good the food was. I was too lazy to choose, so I picked one of the older villagers and followed him to his home with my luggage.
This villager was probably about fifty years old, but he was very strong and looked like someone who farmed and exercised regularly. He said his name was Zhao Lao Da and he had some prestige in the village. As the village was remote and unattended, the villagers temporarily elected him as the village chief.
Boss Zhao said that this village did not have a specific name. Since most people in the village had the surname Zhao, it was naturally called Zhaojia Village by several nearby villages. I don’t know why, but when I heard the three words Zhaojia Village, I immediately felt that something was going to happen.
The village was not very big, and we soon arrived at the village chief's house in the middle of the village. The yard of the village chief's house was very large, and his wife was feeding chickens. After we explained our purpose, his wife immediately went to clean up the house for us. There were many houses in his yard, and it was estimated that the three of us would have one room each.
When the village chief's wife was cleaning the house, the village chief came with us to his living room to discuss the price. Since we had never done such a thing, we let the village chief name his own price. I originally thought that the village chief would ask for a very high price, but he only charged us 50 yuan per person a day, and provided three meals. The price was so cheap that it made me question my life.
After we agreed on the price, we paid for two days. The village chief was grinning from ear to ear as he took the money. He put the money into his socks and said to us, "You young people are really something. You have to come here to experience life when you have such a good life in the city. The terrain here is quite high. Be careful not to fall down when you play during the day. But you must remember, no matter what, as soon as it gets dark, you must come back immediately and never go out!"